Casper Ruud sees Swiatek as clear favourite for Australian Open glory: "She was definitely the best women's player last year"

Casper Ruud sees Iga Swiatek as the winner of the Australian Open because she was clearly the best player in the world in the past twelve months.

Swiatek was indeed the best player in the world and winning multiple events and over 60 matches certainly speaks to that. Ruud followed her career quite closely finding her as a very entertaining player to watch. In the most recent episode of his Eurosport podcast, he talked about the Polish superstar.

He said:

"You know, she's very, very strict [and] very, very determined. You see her in the gym doing all the right exercises. And she's very athletic, I think one of the most athletic players there are, and she moves great. I just think she's a fun player to watch. She was definitely the best women's player last year, and I'm sure that she has some motivation to try to be [the best] this year as well."

On her loss to Pegula, Ruud added:

"She had a tough defeat against [Jessica] Pegula. She will lose as well, sometimes. When you’re the world No. 1, every match you lose will be a surprise or seem like the end of the world, but I'm sure she will focus on the next [one] and get ready for Melbourne."

He sees her as the number one favourite to win the Australian Open.